Could the U.S. nuke the Middle East, not damaging oil reserves, and not upsetting other countries?

Question

The U.S. has nukes, but never uses them. This must relate to the U.S.'s peaceful nature. With all the problems in the Middle East, couldn't they just have a "final solution" and nuke the entire region, to the extent that every living person there will die? Is there a way of doing that which would not harm the rest of the environment, not harm the oil reserves that we need for fuel in the rest of the world, and somehow not upset other nations too much?

Thank you.

Answer 1

Let me give you a break down on Nuclear Weapons. First off we have used them, 2 to be exact on the country of Japan. Where one was only necessary, I think the second one was dropped to scare Russia. Now let me jump away from history and get on to factual information.

Nuclear Weapons are the most destructive object man has ever created. You are spot on with problems in the middle east, but we have Americans over in the middle east in surrounding countries. Besides all that, Nuclear Weapons of today have Megaton warheads, the two bombs we dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were about 16 kilotons. Weapons we have today that are readily deployable by ship, plane, sub, mortar, MLRS or guided weapons that are like dynamite compared to the fire-cracker dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

When a weapon of that magnitude detonates, first it was one big EXPLOSION with a fireball and heat, that can evaporate metal within 5-10 miles of GROUND ZERO, the point where the bomb hits. Second your are talking about a shockwave traveling up to speeds of 500 MPH, knocking over anything including OIL RESERVES. Then after that effect if your still alive, there is an overpressure that sucks up all the oxygen instantly, throws everything up into the atmosphere which will now effect the world as a whole. Then finally you have fall out from the weapon itself and if you are alive from all that, you will suffer from radiation sickness, that will result in horrible and painful death.

After all this, the half-life of uranium is like 2000 years and I am only 28 so that is a long way to go. You would indeed anger the entire world which would lead to Armageddon and causing nations to retaliate against the Unites States for launching a nuke inside another continent.

It was a great question and I hope you understand the destructive power that we possess by harnessing the power of the atom.

Answer 2

Can Muslims bomb America and not upset anyone? We can develop technology to obliterate the middle east with out destroying a building, but international pressure prevents us. I believe the Neutron bomb was theorized long time ago, in which the radiation kills everyone but leave whole cities intact. I guess there would not be any radiation left like a Nuke and we can go back and take the wells. Mass genocide will cause a bit of an uproar though. THere are large number of muslims living in the U.S. andd Europe. THe number one immigrant group in England are Pakistani. In Germany they are the Turks. Beside killing are allies like Pakistan and Turkey might get non middle eastern Allies a little nervous.

Answer 3

Oil shale in the Rockies has been known for decades. At least since the 70s. Its expensive to produce and the price of oil has to be high enough to make it cost effective. It costs about 50-60 dollars to produce a barrel of oil in the US now. It costs about 10-15 dollars to produce a barrel of oil in the Middle East. It is almost always going to be cheaper to import. We have huge supplies of oil in storage now, (excluding the SPR) already out of the ground and ready for use, thanks to recent high prices.. But there is little demand with a weak economy. Speculators have been driving up the price, like they did last year. Oil is a fungible commodity and we could never set the price for it. But environmentalists are making it difficult to drill in the US when prices do rise to profitable levels. Not only in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge but in the lower 48 like the Wyoming Range.

Answer 4

Bombing Iraq would eventually kill every person on earth over the next five or ten years.
After the accident in Russia at
Chernoble. millions of people around the wolrd have died because of this accident, and millions more will die, no one for the next 10,000 years will ever go there if the bombs were dropped today It would be the begining of the end of the world. planes are directed around out of the area for fear they will be contaminated. and a worst thing comes from having so many dangerous weapons, how do we get rid of them .

Answer 5

This is obviously a troll's post, but I'll bite anyway...

It's hilarious how you think the US has a "peaceful nature". We have more nukes than anyone else, and we are the only country to have ever used them. Is that peaceful?

Answer 6

No, it is not environmentally possible. The entire atmosphere would change. Why do you think people are getting cancer now more than ever since they dropped the big bomb in WWII?

Answer 7

The movements of a hysterical chicken are amusing but not something I care to follow.

Answer 8

I'm with Bostonian. This idea is obsurd in so many ways.

Answer 9

Not upsetting other countries!?!?

You are talking about people who will criticize us no matter what we did.

Answer 10

peaceful nature, where have you been living, in Disney world.